---

Energy Bill

I am grateful to the noble Lord. I will come back to him. On international treaties, Norway has already ratified the amendment to the Ospar Convention, to which the noble Lord refers, to enable the UK to store CO2 in the near future. Contracting starts soon, and there has to be notification for it to come into force. The London protocol has also been amended so that carbon dioxide can be stored on the seabed. My noble friend Lord Woolmer asked why CO2 is stored on the seabed and not under it and whether such opportunities exist in the UK. Again, under Ospar, the international agreement, this would not be permissible because it prohibits storage in the water column itself. The noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, asked why the power in subsection (3)(c) was not blindingly obvious. This and other provisions are not obvious because they may affect the rights and expectations of licence holders in one way or another. This includes the power to require financial security or to modify a licence. Another group of not obvious provisions include provisions that are specific to CO2 storage. In answer to the question of the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, the Bill states that interim measures prior to the permanent disposal of carbon will also require a licence. What situation is that intended to cover? While unlikely, we are not ruling out the possibility that it may be necessary to temporarily store CO2 offshore in one location before transferring it if, for example, an operator has a portfolio of sites that are in close proximity. As to the question of the noble Lord, Lord Redesdale, about details in relation to onshore siting, the best thing that I can do is write to him with a more exact position than I have been able to describe up to now.